Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickramanayaka gave a long triumphant speech at the 64th UN General Assembly in New York, to a hall that was more than half empty, reported Inner City Press.
According to the non-profit public interest organisation, the Prime Minister “droned on” as the Sri Lankan Foreign Affairs and Defense Ministers “sat with their head in their hands”.
In his speech, Wickramanayaka repeated promises that the government were doing all they could to help resettle the civilians in camps. He however warned that "the stability and security that we have restored at great human cost cannot and must not be compromised, particularly when a large number of self-confessed ex-LTTE cadres continue to mix with the IDPs (internally displaced persons)," hinting that the resettlement may be delayed even longer.
The Prime minister also made it clear that Colombo would not allow the UN to “interfere in internal affairs”. Relations between the UN and the Sri Lankan government have been strained, since the climax of the war in May, amid allegations of human rights abuses.
As the Prime Minister spoke, Tamil Americans rallied in front of the UN to protest over the organisation’s inaction.
Before the Prime Minister addressed the UN General Assembly, he spoke at the Asia Society at Park Avenue, Manhattan, where he started his speech by saying "our country is nourished by Buddhism". It has been reported that the only questions Wickramanayaka answered were “pre screened softball questions”, according to Inner City Press.
The organisation also claimed that “several facts were plainly misrepresented.”
“The Asia Society's questioner -- who multiple times and accurately said, "I am by no means an expert on Sri Lanka" -- asked if the International Committee of the Red Cross has access to all the IDPs. Yes, Wickramanayake replied. But the ICRC has complained of no access to at least 10,000 people.”
“Then Wickramanayake said that two ICRC staffers were found to have "direct" ties to the LTTE and were arrested. Presumably he was referring to the two UN system staff, a question that Inner City Press wrote on a note card that was never read out by the moderator. Nor was a question about the GSP Plus tax benefit in Europe, which Sri Lanka stands to lose for human rights violations.”
The UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon met with the Prime Minister after his speech, to discuss the situation in these camps, and in particular to urge rapid resettlement as the monsoon season approaches.
“Failure to rapidly resettle nearly 300,000 Sri Lankans displaced by the government's final onslaught against Tamil separatists and further suffering under harsh conditions in the camps could result in growing bitterness,” said the UN Secretary General.
